The English opening batter Zak Crawley suggested he had no knowledge of comments from captain Stokes regarding the team environment not being "weak men".
The all-rounder made this message in multiple interviews in the wake of his team's loss in the second Ashes series versus Australia earlier this month.
Ahead of the third Test, where England now face defeat at the earliest opportunity, Stokes noted he had allowed his sentiment to "drift around" within the playing group.
"I have completed all the talking in recent days that I needed to have done," remarked Stokes.
However, after Crawley made a knock of 85 on the penultimate day in Adelaide, he stated: "I missed those remarks."
"I didn't see and wasn't really looking out for it. Our approach is to take everything that is said in the press with a pinch of salt," he added.
Frank Discussions and Consistent Messaging
The captain issued his "weak men" observation after his side were beaten in Brisbane to go two matches behind.
The team afterwards went on a break to a Queensland resort between the second and third matches.
Before this match, Stokes said his team had held "honest" conversations and he had urged them to "display some fight" in their battle to stay in contention in the Ashes battle.
Nevertheless, Crawley stated the guidance from the captain and coach Brendon McCullum had remained in line with their prior three years in charge.
"The atmosphere has been extremely upbeat, the same as always," said the opener. "It's on maintaining positivity, play our way, with great liberty. We believed we were capable of something special entering this game."
The Hosts On the Verge of Rapid Series Victory
The opener's wicket on day four was part of a decisive three-wicket burst by Australian off-spinner Lyon.
The spinner's triple strike in a short spell – he also bowled Brook and Stokes himself – meant England 207-6 in pursuit of a notional total of 435 runs.
Consequently, the home team require four wickets on the last day to secure an insurmountable three-nil lead after three Tests.
Defeat would prolong England's winless run in this country to 18 consecutive matches and ensure a fourth straight away Ashes series defeat.
This series is set to be decided in just 11 days of cricket – with England losing the first two Tests in rapid time respectively.
The last time 1921, when the Australians sealed a series win in the UK in eight days, has the destination of the Ashes urn been determined more swiftly. The hosts have also triumphed in eleven days on two other instances in the 21st century.
"It's disappointing," admitted the batsman. "Our goal was to regain the Ashes and now we are facing elimination now."
"There will still be significant pride at stake and we will certainly approach it like that," he continued.
"The challenge has been tough. They're a very, very good team. It was inevitably tough coming here to face them. They were the front-runners coming in to it have demonstrated their quality."
Ollie Pope's Place In Question
While the opener's innings in the third Test probably answers questions about his immediate place in the England team, Pope appears under threat for his spot in the fourth Test on Boxing Day.
Pope fell for 17 runs in the team's second knock on Saturday, adding to his modest returns versus Australia.
In sixteen Ashes knocks, the Surrey man has never made a half-century and averages 17.62.
Only one other England player in over a century – Amiss – has played an equal number of innings in the top six in Ashes Tests and recorded a poorer average.
But, the opener insisted any suggestion his teammate is under the microscope originates with "the media" – meaning the journalists – "and not within the team."
"We all know how good of a player he is," said Crawley. "He has had a good year if I'm honest."
"He has played some really good knocks. This is noise from the outside. There is no discussion of that nature regarding Pope in the camp," Crawley concluded.
